(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
A 20-year-old Erie resident who killed a 7-year-old boy in a gang-related shooting nearly got his wish that a judge sentence him to life without parole on Wednesday in Erie County Common Pleas Court.
The defendant, Abdullah O. Ismael, who was 17 when he killed Antonio “Espn” Yarger Jr. in 2022, was instead ordered to serve 60 years to life in state prison for his conviction for first-degree murder .
Ismael, who was tried as an adult, had demanded that Judge John J. Mead sentence him to life without parole to prove how sorry Ismael said he was for the murder and the sorrow that it caused Antonio’s family.
“It was never in my heart to kill anybody, especially Antonio, especially a kid,” Ismael told Mead as he asked for the sentence of life without parole. “I am so sorry.”
Mead stopped short of granting the request. He explained that the Pennsylvania appellate courts generally discourage sentences of life without parole for defendants convicted of first-degree murder for killings that occurred when they were juveniles.